Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce net migration.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government remains completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration. Our points-based immigration system allows us to control who comes to the UK to work, study and visit.
In May 2023, we took decisive action to tackle the substantial rise in the number of students bringing dependants to the UK. These reforms have now been implemented.
On 4 December, the Home Secretary announced a new package of measures to further reduce legal net migration. These include: limitations on family dependants being brought in by care workers and senior care workers; increasing the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route; commissioning the Migration Advisory Committee to review the Shortage Occupation List and raising the minimum income requirement progressively over the next few years.
This package of measures, taken together with the measures the Government announced in May 2023 to restrict the number of overseas students able to bring dependants, means that around 300,000 people who were eligible to come to the UK last year would not be able to do so in future.
We keep all our immigration policies under review to ensure they best serve the UK and reflect the public’s priorities, including filling skills gaps and growing the economy.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure consistency of support across regions for victims of domestic violence.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Violence Against Women and Girls National Statement of Expectations sets out how local areas should commission effective services. It also aims to increase understanding of the need for specialist services and the value of those designed, and delivered by and for the users and communities they aim to serve (for example victims and survivors from ethnic minority backgrounds, deaf and disabled victims and survivors, and LGBT victims and survivors).
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report on meeting the needs of victims across England and Wales has been useful in highlighting the importance of nationwide provision and specialist support. We have and will continue to use her findings in commissioning and funding decisions.
The Domestic Abuse Act introduced a legal duty on Tier 1 local authorities to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation, including refuges. Department of Levelling up, Housing and Communities have allocated £127.3 million in 2023/24 to LAs to discharge this duty.
Ministry of Justice is also this year (23/24) providing £21 million of ringfenced funding to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCS) for community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services. This is in addition to the ‘Core’ funding MoJ provides to PCCs to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.
In November 2023, we renewed the commitment to support victims of domestic abuse with a further £2 million investment into the Flexible Fund until March 2025, announced in the Autumn Statement. The Home Office Fund will enable direct payments to victims across England and Wales to help them flee abuse and re-establish long-term safety and independence and builds on a trial of the scheme in 2023.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help protect victims of targeted anti-social behaviour.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 27 March, the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan) ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools and powers they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes up to £60m to fund an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we are working with 10 police force areas, including Durham. From 2024 we will be rolling out this hotspot approach across every police force area in England and Wales. We are also providing up to £50m to support the provision of Immediate Justice, by issuing out of court disposals with conditions to swiftly repair any damage. This has started in 10 initial trailblazer police force areas, including Durham, and will be rolled out nationally in 2024.
As part of the Action Plan, we re-launched the Community Trigger as the ‘Anti-social Behaviour Case Review’, which gives victims of persistent antisocial behaviour the right to request a multi-agency case review where a local threshold is met. The new guidance provides greater clarity on how and when it can be used and encouraging agencies to automatically conduct reviews once the threshold has been hit. We updated the gov.uk pages https://www.gov.uk/guidance/anti-social-behaviour-asb-case-review-also-known-as-the-community-trigger to raise awareness of this tool to give victims and communities a say in the way that complaints of ASB are dealt with.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to ensure that Afghans brought to the UK through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are found permanent accommodation as soon as possible.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We currently have over 12,000 people in bridging hotel accommodation.
We do not want to keep people in temporary accommodation any longer than they need to be, we are eager for them to be moved into more permanent settled accommodation so that they can begin to rebuild their lives here in the UK.
Due to an unprecedented cross-government effort, and in partnership with local authorities and the private rented sector, we have already matched or are matching approximately 4,000 evacuees to homes.
We strive to allocate the right families into the right accommodation to ensure that their integration into their new communities in the UK is as smooth as possible. We are exploring all options to ensure families who move out of bridging hotels into self-arranged accommodation receive the appropriate support
To achieve this, we triage and prioritise families to ensure the settled accommodation provides the best possible match.
We would like to encourage Local Authorities who have not yet pledged support to consider offering to do so. People are encouraged to submit housing offers via the DLUHC Housing portal where offers can be signposted to the appropriate LA to consider if they could support a family under the scheme using that property - https://gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-housing-portal-offers-of-support…
In addition to the work we are doing with local authorities, the Government has extended the Community Sponsorship Scheme so that local community groups will be able to directly support an Afghan family resettled through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme which will commence soon.
Afghans recognised as having a legal right to reside in the UK are immediately entitled to access essential services including education, NHS healthcare, employment opportunities and universal credit.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of police foot patrols.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Visible policing in local neighbourhoods is central to the model of policing by consent.
We are committed to delivering on the people’s priorities and ensuring that policing has the resources it needs; we have increased the police funding settlement by £1.1billion in 2022/23, and through the Police Uplift Programme, police forces in England and Wales have already recruited over 11,000 additional officers and are on track to deliver 20,000 additional officers by March 2023.
In Durham specifically, the police force has recruited 75 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 135 officers to be recruited by March 2022. The force has also been allocated a further 90 officers for the final year of the programme.
Decisions about frontline policing, and how resources are best deployed, are for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, who are best placed to make decisions with their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of (a) serving and (b) retired police officers who have died by suicide in the last 10 years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested as the Office for National Statistics publish data on suicide by occupation, including police officers.
Information on suicides by occupation can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/10807suicidebyoccupationenglandandwales2011to2018registrations
The statistics show that police officer (sergeant and below) suicide deaths in England remain relatively steady and small in number (e.g. 13 in 2011, reaching a high of 21 in 2012 and in the teens each year since, with 13 in 2019).
The death of any serving or retired police officer is a tragedy. The Government and police leaders take this matter seriously and are working to support the mental and physical wellbeing of all police officers and staff.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff. This includes £7.5 to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service, which was launched in 2019. The Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the suicide rate amongst (a) serving and (b) retired police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested as the Office for National Statistics publish data on suicide by occupation, including police officers.
Information on suicides by occupation can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/10807suicidebyoccupationenglandandwales2011to2018registrations
The statistics show that police officer (sergeant and below) suicide deaths in England remain relatively steady and small in number (e.g. 13 in 2011, reaching a high of 21 in 2012 and in the teens each year since, with 13 in 2019).
The death of any serving or retired police officer is a tragedy. The Government and police leaders take this matter seriously and are working to support the mental and physical wellbeing of all police officers and staff.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff. This includes £7.5 to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service, which was launched in 2019. The Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support her Department is providing to police forces to prevent suicides amongst (a) serving and (b) retired police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The death of any serving or retired police officer is a tragedy. The Government and police leaders take this matter seriously and are working to support the mental and physical wellbeing of all police officers and staff.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff. This includes £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service, which was launched in 2019. The Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.
The Government has also accelerated work to introduce a Police Covenant, which will ensure our police get the support and protection they need. We have been clear that the Covenant will also cover those who are retired from policing, to ensure that they are also supported effectively once they leave the service. The Covenant will be enshrined in law, with provisions being brought forward later this session, and the Home Secretary will have a duty to report annually on the work undertaken.
Our focus will be on health and wellbeing, physical protection and support for families. We are in no doubt that an area we must focus on is mental health support. We will continue to work closely with policing partners to ensure the Covenant has a lasting impact on both serving and retired officers and staff.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the mental wellbeing of retired police officers.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government takes the mental health and wellbeing of our police extremely seriously and we understand that the current crisis will have an impact on all of those working in policing, including those who have re-joined forces to support the response to Covid-19.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to police officers and staff. This includes £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which was launched in April 2019.
The NPWS has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, by signposting to relevant services and additional support.
However, we want to go further, and have therefore accelerated work to introduce a Police Covenant, recognising the service and sacrifice of those who work, or have worked, in policing and to deliver the practical support they need. The key areas of focus will be physical protection, health and wellbeing and support for families.
Following an 8-week public consultation on the principle and scope of the Police Covenant, we are currently analysing the responses and intend to publish our response during the summer. Mental health and wellbeing support specifically for retired officers, including any additional needs as a result of the Covid-19 response, will be considered as part of this.
The Police Covenant will be put into law as part of the Police Protection and Powers Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech; we aim to introduce the Bill later this session.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the long-term effect on a person's mental health and wellbeing of serving in the police.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government takes the mental health and wellbeing of our police extremely seriously and we understand that the current crisis will have an impact on all of those working in policing, including those who have re-joined forces to support the response to Covid-19.
We have invested in programmes which offer help directly to police officers and staff. This includes £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which was launched in April 2019.
The NPWS has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, by signposting to relevant services and additional support.
However, we want to go further, and have therefore accelerated work to introduce a Police Covenant, recognising the service and sacrifice of those who work, or have worked, in policing and to deliver the practical support they need. The key areas of focus will be physical protection, health and wellbeing and support for families.
Following an 8-week public consultation on the principle and scope of the Police Covenant, we are currently analysing the responses and intend to publish our response during the summer. Mental health and wellbeing support specifically for retired officers, including any additional needs as a result of the Covid-19 response, will be considered as part of this.
The Police Covenant will be put into law as part of the Police Protection and Powers Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech; we aim to introduce the Bill later this session.